Monthly Archives: March 2008

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After losing two consecutive games and three of their last four, the Angels got back on track with a 9-1 pounding of the San Francisco Giants. Jered Weaver gave up a home run but it is his only run allowed in two spring starts. Vladimir Guerrero hit a home run.

In other news, John Lackey went all out in a bullpen session to test his sore right elbow (the Associated Press incorrectly calls it a sore shoulder) and reprted no problems. Lackey wants to make four spring starts and then start on Opening Day in Minnesota, but manager Mike Scioscia wants his ace to make five outings before pitching in a regular-season game. Instead of starting on March 31 against the Twins, Lackey might end up getting pushed back to the home opener April 4 against Texas. Stayed tuned on this subject.

Angels director of scouting Eddie Bane is being honored for his dominating pitching at Arizona State, with an induction into the National Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame. He will be inducted on Fourth of July weekend in Lubbock, Texas.Bane was 40-4 for the Sun Devils from 1971-74 and had a 1.64 ERA. Here is the complete press release from the Angels:

ANGELS DIRECTOR OF SCOUTING EDDIE BANE TO BE INDUCTED INTO NATIONAL COLLEGE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2008
ANAHEIM, CA – Angels’ Director of Scouting Eddie Bane has been named to the 2008 induction class for the College Baseball Hall of Fame, the College Baseball Foundation announced. Bane will join Floyd Bannister in this year’s class to bring the number of ASU Sun Devils in the Hall of Fame to five, joining coaching legends Bobby Winkles and Dr. Jim Brock as well as former Golden Spikes Award winner Bob Horner.

The official induction ceremony will take place over Fourth of July weekend in Lubbock, Texas, the future site of the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bane pitched at Arizona State from 1971 to 1973, going 40-4 in his career with a 1.64 ERA. The lefthander threw 27 complete games and 11 shutouts during his collegiate career, helping lead the Sun Devils to the College World Series in 1972 and 1973. He struck out 535 batters in 379.1 innings pitched, including a career high 21 against LaVerne in 1972. He threw the only perfect game in Arizona State baseball history on March 2, 1973, striking out 19 batters in a 9-0 win over Cal State Northridge. His 535 strikeouts still stands as a school record, and his 40 career wins are third most in ASU history. Bane was twice named an All-American and was the 11th overall pick in the 1973 Major League by the Minnesota Twins. He had his #21 retired by Arizona State University on February 16, 2000.

Bane begins his fifth campaign as Director of Scouting for the Angels. He oversees the scouting of amateur and minor league players as well as the signing of domestic amateur players and international players. Under his direction, Angels’ scouts have been responsible for drafting and signing highly-regarded Angels’ prospects such as Jered Weaver, Kendry Morales, Nick Adenhart, Stephen Marek and Hank Conger.

Jon Garland will get the start for the Angels on Friday and he will be facing his old Chicago White Sox teammates. It seems as if the White Sox are interested in giving their old friend a stern test as many of the team’s regulars will be in the lineup including Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede. The White Sox already are excited about the awkward matchup.

Enough about all this radio confusion from spring training. Tape-delayed games on the radio. Free games on the internet. Now live games on the radio but only on weekdays. Here is the real question: When can we see some spring games on television? Well, there still is two weeks before games will air on TV from Arizona but here is the schedule when they do:

The Mariners beat the Angels 6-5 in a Cactus League game today and tried to make it seem like the contest had a regular-season feel. Manager Mike Scioscia’s reaction: he could hardly care less. Looks like Mariners vs. Angels for the AL West title should be very interesting.

As for Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard, who granted the media only four questions and then only answered three of them in barely a minute: Get over yourself.

ProjectedAngels Opening Day starter John Lackey, who had been dealing with a sore elbow, is expected to make his spring debut Monday.

Not to beat a dead horse with this subject, but there is some positive news when it comes to spring Angels games being aired live on the radio. The Angels just announced that starting Monday (March 10) all weekday spring games will air live on 830-AM, the team’s new flagship station. That’s good news for those fans who are making the daily rounds in their car and want to catch a few innings while sitting in traffic. All games had been airing on the radio on a tape-delayed basis. Weekend games will continue to get the delayed treatment.

To repeat, this entire episode is happening because the Arte Moreno-owned 830-AM was prohibited from airing spring games live because of contract obligations with existing shows. It seems those weekend shows have a tighter contract than the weekday shows. Once the regular season starts, Angels games will get priority over all existing non sports programing.

And for those who already have grown comfortable listening to free live broadcasts on the internet, the Angels have said those games will continue to be free. The games on the internet can be accessed at angelsbaseball.com.

In a late addition to this update, weekend replays of Angels games on 830-AM that conflict with Ducks broadcasts will air following the hockey games.

Ervin Santana got the start Tuesday and allowed two runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings, but it was the late innings that posed a problem as the White Sox rallied with two runs in the ninth to beat the Angels 7-6. Brandon Wood hit his second home run of the spring, while Kendry Morales and Reggie Willits had two hits each. The Angels are 3-2-1 on the spring.

Lovieanne Jung might be getting more national exposure, er attention, these days than her boyfriend, the Angels’ Jon Garland. Jung, a member of the USA softball team heading to the Olympics this summer, is pictured in a Budweiser ad on the back of the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition with two other members of the team. Yes, they all are in swimsuits.

But Garland said recently that the photo looks nothing like his girlfriend. It seems that all three softball players received the airbrush treatment to make them look more like paintings, or caricatures of themselves. Garland was disappointed saying “She’s beautiful without all that stuff.” Garland said Jung’s mom was disappointed in the photo as well.

For those who have the swimsuit edition and want to see what a runaway airbrush “artist” is capable of doing, here is Jung’s bio and photo with USA Softball. There are also some game action shots here.

The USA Softball team, meanwhile is preparing for the Olympics with its “Bound 4 Beijing Tour.” The team plays in Florida tonight against Florida International University. They will be in Fullerton March 19-21 to play Cal State Fullerton, Louisiana Lafayette and New Mexico. They also will be at UCLA on April 22 and in Irvine July 26 to face Cal State Fullerton again. The July 26 game is their last before hearding to Beijing. For USA Softball’s complete spring and summer schedule, click here.

If Torii Hunter looks this good once the regular season begin, his five-year, $90 million contract will be a steal. Hunter had an early RBI triple and also delivered a double as the Angels upended the division rival A’s by a 6-1 score. Joe Saunders threw two scoreless innings in his first spring start. In other news, John Lackey (sore elbow) threw from a mound and should be able get in his five starts in spring training. The projected Opening Day starter is expected to start the season on time.

The Angels have worked out the kinks, at least for today, and their live radio broadcast is now available at angelsbaseball.com. The Angels started offering their live broadcast on the internet starting Saturday. But on Sunday, the link didn’t work and listeners were asked to pay $15 for a year of MLB radio. The free offer was extended because games can’t be broadcast live on the team’s new flagship station due to contract agreements with existing shows on 830-AM. Games are airing on 830-AM in the evening on a tape-delayed basis.

Linking to the broadcast is fairly easy. On the home page of angelsbaseball.com, one of the windows on the main page has a headline that says “Listen LIVE.” Just click on that headline, or on the tagline at the end of the message that says “Listen live.” On the next screen, click on the button that says “Current subscribers click here.” On the next screen, find the Angels game, which is listed third from the bottom. On that row, go to the column that reads “Gameday Audio H,” since the Angels are the home team. In that column and at the row that says “Oak vs. LAA,” click on the button that reads MLB.com. That should open an audioplayer which will start the broadcast. Happy listening.